Faculty and Staff

Ronald Davis

Bio

Ronald Davis joined the USC music faculty as Professor of Tuba and Euphonium in 1985.
He is principal tubist with the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra and is currently
serving as coordinator of the Brass Teaching Division.

Dr. Davis was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He earned a doctor of musical
arts in tuba performance from the University of Southern California and also holds
degrees from California State University-Fullerton and Bowling Green State University.
His major teachers were Jim Self, Tommy Johnson, Roger Bobo, Ivan Hammond and Ronald
Bishop.

As an orchestral player Dr. Davis has performed with the Augusta Symphony Orchestra,
the Santa Barbara Symphony, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Sinfonia Orchestra
under Roger Wagner, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Charleston and Charlotte
Symphonies. In 1991 as a guest soloist with the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra,
Dr. Davis performed the South Carolina premiere of the Concerto for Bass Tuba and
Orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Dr. Davis has a varied background as a freelance performer, including being a founding
member of the first professional tuba quartet to play at Disneyland, The Tubadours.
The group capped its early years by winning television's The Gong Show. He was an
original cast member of the Pioneer Hall, Hoop-De-Doo Review, at Walt Disney World,
Florida (playing banjo) and also performed regularly at California’s Knott's Berry
Farm and Ghost Town and Six Flags Magic Mountain. During this time, Dr. Davis served
as an adjunct instructor/lecturer at California Lutheran College, California State
University-Fullerton, and as member of the Faculty Brass Quintet at the University
of California, Santa Barbara. Just prior to coming to South Carolina, Dr. Davis served
a one-year appointment as Visiting Assistant Professor of Tuba, Euphonium and Band
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Davis gained a reputation as a tuba scholar through his regular reviews and articles
in the “ITEA Journal,” published by the International Tuba/Euphonium Association.
In 1991, R. Winston Morris of Tennessee Technological University conceived “The Tuba
Source Book” project to assemble the most complete single volume devoted to one musical
instrument. Dr. Davis was selected to assemble the discography chapter. Indiana University
Press published “The Tuba Source Book” in 1993. Ten years later Dr. Davis revised
and enlarged the discography, which was published in “The New Tuba Source Book: Guide to the Tuba Repertoire,” released in fall 2006.

Dr. Davis has been a featured soloist at International Tuba/Euphonium Conferences
in Austin, Minneapolis and Tucson, and at the Southeastern Regional Conference held
at the North Carolina School of the Arts, and he can be heard on “SoloPro:Contest
Music for Tuba” released by Summit Records.